The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-07-03
ELMIRA'S GREAT BALL GAM
AND HOW 1T WAS UMPIRED NJ MARA
TWAIN AND DIR. BEECTfER.

/
AND HOW 1T WAS U1fPIRED NJ MARA
TWAIN AND DIR. BEECHER.
| The Mayer and Other Conspicuous Citiseu
at tho Bat-Thc Umpires Had sos,a
wrnngiinr and Mere Fan, but nidn'e
Seem 10 Know which Side had Wen.
ELM1RA, July 2.-The ball ground In Maple
| Avenue Park was mapped out in rivulets OF
| Precipitation half an hour after the great gnma
was called this afternoon. but that did not
prevent the players from finishing the contest.
| The purpose for which the game was played
was incorrectly stated In the New York papers.
1t was not gotten up simply to have Mark
| Twain and the Rev. DR.. Beeoher score II.
| They are not such important characters In
| Elmira as they seem In New York. The bar.
| bers in town shave Them the lawyers bleed
| them. tho gasmen rob them. the newsboys yen
| at them, the poor people poster them and,
altogether, they amount to very little mos
than the rest OF the rich folks OF the
neighborhood. Mark Twain got married
here. and comes here every summer to do his
| writing In o sort Of a pilot house he has
built on his cottage on Quarry Hill. and the
Rev. DR.. Thomas X. Beecher has been herr
thirty-three years. time enough to preach biz
stock Of sermons over and over again four
times and half without being caught at Il
| for 1t has been discovered that seven-year
| old sermon Is as good as a new one. The truth
| Is that the game was played to flatter a lot q
old gentlemen who used to play FOUNDERS and
three-cornered cat twenty years ago. and who
| think they know more about how base boil
ought to be played than the club players OF to-
day all put together. They have put thei'
| money into swell racing track and athletic
ground called Maple Avenue Park,
I'LL. 81
property; so there was no one to pre-
vent their exhibiting themselves in this
manner. In 1866 they formed two cluba
here. one called the Alerts and one called the
President Of the Alerts but that was SO long
ropes that the Unions used to get away with
the Alerts every time. The truth is that the
ity Of Pitch on their hands. Besides. the Unions
her with their whf
20 his HIS zane nns @
There was great interest in to-days game
e oR esR2rsd ois to
eleeiul wave Of the hand from ex,Gov. Robin;
son as they sped past the baronial dwelling q
the. spirit Of the occasion and posted himself
on his well-shaded yeranda to see the process.
|
In the dusty Sayalcade. and when he got TO The
park found that 1t was no easy task to deeds iS
FegRets ss s haa
ought to be with them, because nothing was to
%se Of r asss bbsS saf
appointed scorers. and who sat out In r tns
grass on camp st2ols said , that +t Tn
or else 60 to the grand stand and Join the 10.
dies, a Thousand Of whom were grouped be.
the ee the
which was under the stand, and which was do;
such sdas It t s
mssk sa Ts he; !s!as BeeeheE and are 60
reportei yU stayed S With the u%pres and THs
she ustsfy nSos sSs @ "a 10
eeedings Of a pair Of ball clubs those two wen
Mr.. Clemens had the audacity to say that hs
had been teiegraphed Tor to umpire pre- Pc
about It want t. SEE how WI come s, o out q 2,
ofFer myself too Cheap The public shall ses
this
Mr.. Clemens was dressed IN a suit Of white.
terminated at one end with black kid slippers
RS5s hs 5sst e s bis q cloth a.
e1.aovernor. was kind enough to say that the
famous author looked like the persopification
haS Fas y sh
made into a suit OF clothes. II one must ba
poosca simply bseps Z. he is fan +:
hs fhsGn %hch Is sd
vsFh1sef he ~ fho@as SeseGer tail
kindly mar, Of 50 odd years. with 50 full 9
tass ffG f Thsfssr hs
the 81 Nswp and Hs
that DO refused to act as umpire until ho heard
Marx Twain SS b ssnt to The
an umpire he could be one also. Twain sayf
that he supposes that he was appointed m be.
ne knows nothing aDoaf tfs Gan b
start Dr. Beeeher wanted to stand out in t tht
%a Ea %as f sons 20
it was cooler there and he had seen colored
wy But 'aH Il we 20 there said Dr. Beeeher. we
see hSi q the fo %u haT but
In the breezy stand. and Dr. Beecher pokeS
He ought to be here by me, said mir. Twain
"But fortunately It does not matter We win
have appoints ted Lawyer John =, Joslyn *
referee. He is certain to agree with either the
DOCTOR OF mo- anu 30 everything WILL run
The game went very smoothly. The old gen.
tlemen composing the two clubs made the best
OF tho situation. Some Of them carried UNI
brellas over their heads; some sat on the bags
that marked the bases, and some of them oc.
casiona!ly caught ball that was thrown n, o.
som, the paying teller Of the Chomung Cana
Bank, varied tie monotony OF the thing By
ever 1t came his way and he, got hold Of It, He
said 1t was too warm weather to be pitching
| halls Ind u.
who weighs 235 pounds, wore a blue flannel
coat This annoyed Mark Twain greatly.
II suppose can make him take II of" saif
he, but must use my power mildly"
| Toward evening u rumor reached the Judges
stand that the game stood 10 to !.
| Which side Is ten 7" tho reporter asked.
THE one that Is ahead" DR.. Beocher re-
piled. "a, NJ, MT
II don't know one side from the other, but ]
have noticed that 1t Is very one-sided affair"
8. Denton. the railway mail clerk threw the
ball again and again with an accuracy gained
postal cars, City Chamberlain Blossom batted